The Heart of the Starks
by Lisa-Sina-912
Summary: One-Shot. [BIG WARNING for Character Death, Terminal Illness, and Depressing Sad Ending.] Peter comes down with a terminal illness and is in his final moment with his family. [Based on MCU. Alternate Universe in which Pepper, Tony, Harley, Peter, and Morgan are all blood family. Mildly inspired by the film My Sister's Keeper.] (Rated T just in case for language)


**A/N: Just so you know, I AM working on the next chapter for _Dad_, like, right now. But I got a little distracted with this. I don't know why but I just had this sudden urge and craving for something really emotional and more or less tragic...**

**Then I rewatched _My Sister's Keeper_ and that kinda inspired me with this specific idea. So I just took a moment to quickly get this out so that I can go back to _Dad_ and focus on it.**

**I gotta warn you, that this might be sad. :/**

**(Tony, Pepper, Harley, Peter, and Morgan are altogether a biological family in this. Also, Peter was not bitten by a certain radioactive spider.)**

* * *

**The Heart of the Starks**

* * *

It was never noticeable. So subtle that it wasn't until it was too late that they found out anything was wrong.

Or maybe it was too noticeable. Too loud and big to be within their grasp. Too apparent to be truly acknowledgeable.

Either way, the result was only one. And it was inevitable.

"Peter?"

Peter turned his half-open eyes to where his sister was sitting on his bed looking down at him.

"Hey," he said with his best effort. He chose to ignore the reality that it wasn't even barely a whisper.

He pulled his lips upward to form the best smile he could possibly manage. Morgan looked into his eyes before she snuggled up into the crook of his necks. Peter put his best effort to lift his needled arm and wrap it around her small body. He ran his hand against her back.

"Don't go, please?" Morgan whispered against his skin.

Peter swallowed hard. He looked to his family. His parents were sitting in their respective chairs by the bed. His mother gave him a tearful smile. His father's face was very different from hers, failing to hide the pain and sorrow. His brother Harley stood between them, both his hands firmly rooted in the pockets of his trousers. His eyes were fixed on the littlest Stark's back. Peter finally turned his eyes downward at his sister.

"I won't," he said. "I'll always be with you, you know that."

A muffled sniff came from the little girl. Peter rubbed her back and planted a kiss on top of her head.

There was only silence as the quiet humming of the machine and monitors filled the room.

* * *

_ At first, it was just some lack of energy. He was feeling tired all the time and was falling asleep in pretty much every place in every situation. Tony, Pepper, Harley, and Ned had all pointed that out for him._

_ "I guess I'm just tired. I went to bed at 2 last night," was Peter's answer, occasionally added with a casual shrug._

_ Everyone bought it - even Peter himself._

_ Then it was the bruising. The constant and easy bruising that he just had no explanation for. _

_ Harley was the first to notice._

_ "Dude," he said once, pointing to Peter's exposed forearm that the short sleeve of the shirt could not cover in any way. "What's that?"_

_ Peter stopped in the middle of his action to drink the water he had just gotten and looked at his older brother dumbly._

_ "What's what?"_

_ "That," Harley pointed to the ugly bluish-purple shades._

_ Peter followed it with his gaze and looked down at his own arm. He simply blinked._

_ "Oh," he muttered._

_ "Was it that dipshit Flash kid again?" Harley asked. The usual smugness was replaced by a more serious tone._

_ "I don't think so…?" Peter answered. From what he remembered, there was no physical violence coming from Flash after Harley decided to have a little 'talk' with the bully. "I guess I just bumped into something at some point."_

_ Harley's frown showed that he wasn't fully convinced, yet the matter was dropped. And Peter may or may not have forgotten to tell anyone about the inexplicable bruises he kept finding ever since._

_ The next was the weight loss. That one was harder for anyone to notice. Peter didn't eat that much from the beginning. Of course, he did eat enough to maintain a certain weight. So it was definitely weird when there was a constant decrease in the number of his pounds. Maybe that was the factor that caused the fatigue as well?_

_ But it wasn't until the nosebleed that the medical intervention was finally made._

_ Morgan had decided to go wake up her brother that morning. Only, when she opened the door to Peter's room, he was already up. However, she did not get a chance to disappointed by the fact that she missed the chance to tickle her older brother._

_ Peter turned around to face Morgan. He had tissues cover his nose. There were a couple of red drops on the floor and the edge of the white bedsheet._

_ "Hey, Mor," he said cheerfully through the tissues that were covering his smile._

_ Morgan tilted her head. Even her 5-year-old brains were enough to see that something was off._

_ "Are you okay?" She asked._

_ Peter pulled off the tissue momentarily._

_ "Of course," he said. Just then, another stream of blood came out of his nose and stained the white shirt he was wearing as his pajama. He quickly held the tissue once again. Then he looked back at Morgan. "It's just a little thing. I'll be out soon."_

_ Morgan frowned a little as she nodded and turned away to head back to the rest of her family in the kitchen. Harley and her dad were already sitting at the table while her mom set down the orange juice bottle on the table._

_ "Did you wake Peter up?" Her mom asked._

_ Morgan pondered before she answered._

_ "Peter's bleeding," she said._

_ Everyone froze and looked at her._

_ "What?" Her dad asked._

_ "There's blood. His nose is bleeding."_

_ Tony and Pepper looked at each other in confusion before Pepper headed to Peter's room. Tony watched her before looking at his two children._

_ "Start eating," he said. "Your mom's gonna check on him, okay?"_

_ He had Morgan sit next to him and placed a piece of toast on her plate. Harley seemed quite hesitant but began to slowly eat._

_ When Pepper stepped into her son's room, Peter still had his nose blocked with the tissue._

_ "Honey," she said as she approached him. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"_

_ "Yeah," Peter answered. His voice was slightly muffled through the tissue. "It's just a nosebleed."_

_ Pepper held the tissue in her hand. Peter let go of it and let his mother hold him. She gently led him to sit on the bed. She lowered the tissue a little to check on the actual blood before she firmly blocked his nostrils again._

_ "How long have you been bleeding?" She asked, concern lacing her voice._

_ "Uhm," he said. "I think about ten minutes now?"_

_ "Ten minutes?" Pepper repeated, shocked. She scanned her son's face. That was when she noticed that he looked quite pale and exhausted. "Are you feeling unwell? You look pale."_

_ Peter shrugged._

_ "Not particularly," he said. "A bit tired, but that's it."_

_ Pepper looked at him. An uneasy feeling formed from deep within her and started to plague her._

_ "No, you know what? I think we should get you checked over," she said. "FRIDAY? Make an appointment at the hospital."_

_ Leukemia. Acute myeloid leukemia to be exact. That was the diagnosis. Not only that, but the cancer cells had moved with the blood to the brain and settled down there as well. They said that Peter's body was already shutting down. _

_ A month. Maybe two if he was lucky. _

_ He was sentenced to death._

* * *

Harley looked at his siblings on the bed before he walked around it and stood at the other side of his brother. Peter's eyes were fixed on him and moved with him. He offered a smile. And Harley couldn't take it. His stupid brother was freaking smiling at him while he was literally dying.

Harley swallowed hard the huge lump in his throat and bit on his lips.

"How are you feeling?" He said finally.

Peter gave a shrug - or his best effort at it while trying not to stir his sister.

"Not bad, I guess," he said.

Harley couldn't find the word to say. He just looked down at his feet, averting the eyes of his dying brother. That was why Peter made the move first. He raised his free hand; a clear offer for his brother to take. Harley looked at the hand before slowly taking it in his own. He then gripped tightly on it and clung to it.

"Hey," Peter said. "It's gonna be okay."

Harley huffed. As if on cue, that was when the tears that he wasn't even aware of by then began to flood down his face.

"Idiot," he muttered. "You stupid idiot."

He bent over and kissed on his brother's bony hand. He couldn't believe how short it took for his lively little brother to be stripped of all the energy and life.

"Ah, come on," Peter said, his attempt to lighten the mood apparent in his strained voice. "I didn't know you wanted to put up with me for your entire life."

He smiled sadly.

Harley couldn't even huff. He couldn't scold for the terrible timing that Peter always had. He couldn't say anything.

"Hey," Peter said softly. "Thank you, you know. For everything."

That made Harley let go of his brother's hand. Instead, he bent over to hug him. He didn't care that their sister was in the way (Outside of his acknowledgment, she was taken off by their dad). He didn't care that he had to awkwardly bend over the bed. He just wrapped his arms around his brother, embracing him. Peter also used both his hands to cling onto his brother.

"I'm gonna miss you," Harley whispered. "I… I love you, man."

Peter's grip on his brother tightened slightly.

"I love you, too."

The two of them stayed that way for a good few minutes before Harley finally let go of his brother.

Pepper stood up and took her turn next.

"My baby," she whispered. She brushed Peter's hair and kissed his forehead. She then brought her forehead to touch the boy's.

"Mom," Peter said. He smiled up at her.

"I'm so sorry," Pepper said. Her tears flowed on her face and transferred onto that of Peter's. "I love you so much, honey."

"Don't be sorry," Peter answered. Pepper raised her head to look at her boy in the eyes. Peter had a soft gaze on his mother. "I'm sorry. And thank you for everything you've done for me. I love you very much."

Pepper kissed him once more before taking a step backward to give her husband his chance. Tony had been standing behind her while Harley had returned to his first position, holding up Morgan in his arms.

"Pete," he said. He placed a slight grip on his boy's arm.

"Dad," said Peter.

The pain on his dad's face intensified. His lips quivered several times as if he had words to say but couldn't get them out. He held Peter's hand and brought it to his lips.

"I love you," he said instead. "You're my heart, my treasure."

He then leaned over the boy to give a final kiss on his forehead.

Peter smiled and looked up at his father as well as all his family that was standing behind him. Everyone was looking at him, and he was looking at everyone.

"I love you all," said Peter. "So, so much."

With a smile, he slowly closed his eyes and let himself fall into sleep. His hand was still tightly entangled in his father's until the very last moment of consciousness. Until the very last moment before he let himself loose into oblivion.

And Peter never woke up again.

* * *

**A/N: I don't know why, but I just needed this so badly. (Seriously, I'm just so selfish and cruel. Peter really doesn't deserve any of it.)**

**It's kinda rushed and it wasn't planned that well, so the overall writing is quite rushed and messy... It's just a spontaneous idea that I decided to quickly write out that was more of an exercise than anything.**

**Also, as you probably already know, the medical information and knowledge are very much incorrect... I'm very unfamiliar to that particular field... I did my research, but that was not enough. That's why I left out most of the parts that require detailed knowledge, but still... there might be inaccuracies.**

**Always, thank you so much for reading my fic(s)! And thank you all for the kudos and comments you leave behind. These really motivate and inspire me. I really enjoy reading and replying to the comments, so just leave them all as much as you want!**

**I hope you have a good day, wherever you are!**

**Best, Lisa :)**


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